Taste: **** 1/2| Presentation: **** 1/2
This week's creation was inspired by a combination of factors this past weekend. I addition to celebrating my national holiday, I was able to get my hands on a bacon sundae from Burger King this past weekend and it was quite delectable! The cake is maple based with candied bacon bits throughout, filled with a (Canadian) whiskey caramel sauce, topped with a maple frosting, rolled in whiskey smoked sugar and finished with a piece of candied bacon. You'll be impressed by how well the flavours combine
Candied Bacon
10 strips bacon
1/8 cup brown sugar
1/8 cup Canadian Club whiskey
Preheat the oven to 375 degree F. Lay the strips on a greased baking sheet. In a small bowl, combine the sugar and whiskey then proceed to brush the mixture over the strips of bacon. Bake for approximately 15 minutes until crispy, remove from the oven and allow to cool.
Once cool, tear up 4 of the strips into 3 for the toppers and chop up the remaining to incorporate into the batter as follows.
Bacon Cupcakes
1/3 cup shortening
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs, room temperature
1 tsp maple extract
1 cup milk
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup candied bacon bits
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
In a large bowl combine shortening and sugar until fluffy (~3 minutes). Beat in the eggs one at a time. In a medium bowl sift together the flour, baking powder, soda and salt. In a small bowl combine milk and maple extract, set aside. Add the dry ingredient mixture to the sugar mixture in thirds alternating with the milk mixture, starting and ending with the dry ingredients, until combined. Fold in the bacon. Pour the batter into the pans. This batch yielded 12 regular sized cupcakes baked for 12 minutes. Allow to cool.
Caramel Drizzle
1/4 cup Canadian Club whiskey
1/8 tsp cream of tartar
1 cup granulated sugar
2 tbsp corn syrup
1 tbsp unsalted butter
1 cup heavy cream
In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, combine whiskey, cream of tartar, corn syrup, and sugar; ensure that sugar is completed moistened. Heat the ingredients over med-high heat, cook until caramel-amber colour comes through and mixture is at a rolling boil (~8 minutes). Quickly turn off the heat and add the tablespoon of butter, stirring until melted. Carefully pour in the cream, the resulting steam is VERY hot! Return the pan to a medium-low heat, stirring until smooth and slightly bubbly. Remove from heat once more. Transfer the caramel to a heat proof container (ex. Pyrex measuring cup) and allow mixture to come to room temperature before decanting it into a mason jar and refrigerating it to thicken it up (I had it in there overnight). This recipe yielded about 1 1/2 cups of caramel.
Maple Frosting:
1/2 cup shoretning, room temperature
2 cups icing/confectioner sugar
1 tsp maple extract
3 tbsp whipping cream
Combine the shortening and sugar, mixing until light and fluffy (approximately 2 minutes). Add the cream and maple extract, beat until well mixed. This produced enough frosting to top each cake with approximately 1cm of frosting.
Once cooled, wells were cut into the center of each cake, then filled with caramel, the cakes were then frosted and the edges rolled in whiskey smoked sugar (acquired from Sid Wainer's in New Bedford), and each cake was finished off with a slice of candied bacon.
10 strips bacon
1/8 cup brown sugar
1/8 cup Canadian Club whiskey
Preheat the oven to 375 degree F. Lay the strips on a greased baking sheet. In a small bowl, combine the sugar and whiskey then proceed to brush the mixture over the strips of bacon. Bake for approximately 15 minutes until crispy, remove from the oven and allow to cool.
Once cool, tear up 4 of the strips into 3 for the toppers and chop up the remaining to incorporate into the batter as follows.
Bacon Cupcakes
1/3 cup shortening
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs, room temperature
1 tsp maple extract
1 cup milk
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup candied bacon bits
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
In a large bowl combine shortening and sugar until fluffy (~3 minutes). Beat in the eggs one at a time. In a medium bowl sift together the flour, baking powder, soda and salt. In a small bowl combine milk and maple extract, set aside. Add the dry ingredient mixture to the sugar mixture in thirds alternating with the milk mixture, starting and ending with the dry ingredients, until combined. Fold in the bacon. Pour the batter into the pans. This batch yielded 12 regular sized cupcakes baked for 12 minutes. Allow to cool.
Caramel Drizzle
1/4 cup Canadian Club whiskey
1/8 tsp cream of tartar
1 cup granulated sugar
2 tbsp corn syrup
1 tbsp unsalted butter
1 cup heavy cream
In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, combine whiskey, cream of tartar, corn syrup, and sugar; ensure that sugar is completed moistened. Heat the ingredients over med-high heat, cook until caramel-amber colour comes through and mixture is at a rolling boil (~8 minutes). Quickly turn off the heat and add the tablespoon of butter, stirring until melted. Carefully pour in the cream, the resulting steam is VERY hot! Return the pan to a medium-low heat, stirring until smooth and slightly bubbly. Remove from heat once more. Transfer the caramel to a heat proof container (ex. Pyrex measuring cup) and allow mixture to come to room temperature before decanting it into a mason jar and refrigerating it to thicken it up (I had it in there overnight). This recipe yielded about 1 1/2 cups of caramel.
Maple Frosting:
1/2 cup shoretning, room temperature
2 cups icing/confectioner sugar
1 tsp maple extract
3 tbsp whipping cream
Combine the shortening and sugar, mixing until light and fluffy (approximately 2 minutes). Add the cream and maple extract, beat until well mixed. This produced enough frosting to top each cake with approximately 1cm of frosting.
Once cooled, wells were cut into the center of each cake, then filled with caramel, the cakes were then frosted and the edges rolled in whiskey smoked sugar (acquired from Sid Wainer's in New Bedford), and each cake was finished off with a slice of candied bacon.
The Panel:
Fun and inciting presentation; whiskey smoked sugar really pulled the appearance together. A few comments were made that the cake was a little dry, with the caramel adding a hint of moisture though it was bordering mushy inside. Compliments on the combination of sweet and salty, the flavours flowed well together. The strength of the whiskey seemed hit or miss depending on th individual palate. The bacon topper was the best received feature, said to be perfectly cooked. The frosting was "mapley" adding to the breakfast essence of this recipe. more bacon. mixed emotions on filling.
Gaudreau (stand in for Sweet Pea): "My favorite cupcake - EVER!!"
Glameow: "F**k.Yes. I mean...it's bacon!"
Sweets: "Awesome, tasted just like french toast, syrup and bacon."
Giovanni: Two thumbs up!
Eat Freak: "I want to have babies with this cupcake then eat my babies."
My comments:
A couple comments were made that the bacon bits were lacking in the cakes for which reason I would add an extra 1/4 cup of bits in the future. Otherwise this was hands down one of my greatest creations.
Fun and inciting presentation; whiskey smoked sugar really pulled the appearance together. A few comments were made that the cake was a little dry, with the caramel adding a hint of moisture though it was bordering mushy inside. Compliments on the combination of sweet and salty, the flavours flowed well together. The strength of the whiskey seemed hit or miss depending on th individual palate. The bacon topper was the best received feature, said to be perfectly cooked. The frosting was "mapley" adding to the breakfast essence of this recipe. more bacon. mixed emotions on filling.
Gaudreau (stand in for Sweet Pea): "My favorite cupcake - EVER!!"
Glameow: "F**k.Yes. I mean...it's bacon!"
Sweets: "Awesome, tasted just like french toast, syrup and bacon."
Giovanni: Two thumbs up!
Eat Freak: "I want to have babies with this cupcake then eat my babies."
My comments:
A couple comments were made that the bacon bits were lacking in the cakes for which reason I would add an extra 1/4 cup of bits in the future. Otherwise this was hands down one of my greatest creations.